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History · Gilboa Township

Gilboa Township’s post office opened in 1886, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1890.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Gilboa Township began

When was Gilboa Township founded?

1886

The Gilboa Township post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gilboa (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 854 in 18902020 census: 282140 years
Founding year: the first Gilboa Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Gilboa Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Gilboa Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Gilboa Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Gilboa Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gilboa Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Gilboa Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Gilboa Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Gilboa Township is one of eleven townships in Benton County, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 282 and it contained 100 housing units. It is named for Mount Gilboa, a prominence in the southern part of the township. It was created in 1866 out of the northern part of Pine Township, after the petition of 21 residents there.

Its first post office opened in 1886. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 250 to 282 (+13%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Gilboa Township, 1886 to 1962

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Gilboa post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Gilboa post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Gilboa Township on the map, 1962 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gilboa Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Gilboa Township on the 1962 USGS mapGilboa Township on the 1984 USGS mapGilboa Township on the 1990 USGS map1962Mount Gilboa sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gilboa Township.

People over time

Gilboa Township, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 854

Between 241 and 854 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gilboa Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Another post office, Gilboa, opened and closed inside today’s town.

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

West Point TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPine TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarpenter Township2 historic placesA+

Questions about Gilboa Township’s history

What year was Gilboa Township founded?

The Gilboa Township post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.